The purpose of a blog is to share your ideas with an audience. Repeating one type of post can be boring - at best, you will only be able to attract people with the same type of taste. If you want to broaden your horizons, you need to bring variety to your blog posts.

Monotony is a factor that explains why the popularity of many business blogs declines over time. Business owners and marketers are guilty of overusing a success formula once discovered. You consistently produce high-quality content but sooner or later, the audience’s initial excitement wears away.

You can easily run out of ideas when you stick to the same type of content, and this can starve your blog of posts for days. If you are familiar with blogging, you will realize that publishing consistently is vital when establishing an audience. Missing your blog schedule may cost you your audience.

Some content types are time-consuming while others require less time to create. Alternating content that is difficult to generate with the less demanding ones when you are busy, will ensure you have a continuous flow of content to keep your audience engaged. There are seven blog post ideas in this article that will bring a mix of flavor to your blog, leading to a more engaged audience:

1. Articulate using Listicles to get more attention

BuzzStream and Fractl carried out research which revealed that listicles get more social media shares and likes than any other type of article. Listicles is another name for a post containing a list of items, people or things; a 'list post'. Listicles are easy to create. All you need to do is to pick a topic that resonates with your blog, and write about it.

The mistake many bloggers make when it comes to creating listicles is that they just mention a ranked list of the item in the body of the text. This will fail to attract any attention. You need to write interesting and useful information about every item on the list so your audience can gain some interesting information from it.

The shorter the list (say, a list of 3 to 4 items), the deeper you should get into detail while describing them. When you have a long list of 10 items or more, you need to keep the information short - maybe one or two sentences for each of them. The concluding paragraph should provoke the thoughts of the readers. Follow this tip in your next blog and see the difference in viewership!

2. Create interesting infographics

Great visuals draw attention to a post, particularly on social media. Infographics combine text and images to make the given information more meaningful and interesting. They are perfect for readers who are bored by long extracts of text. Infographics are shareable, which makes it easy for them to disperse around social media.

When you are creating an infographic, make it easy to follow. The design should be impeccable, combining light text with heavy graphical content. The image alone should be able to tell the story. The best way to design an infographic is to first bring in the graphics with a little background. In the next step, you discuss your findings in simple words. The usual practice is that many will skip this part and march on to the graphics, but a few will gladly read them. Additional information of benefit to the reader should come at the end. If you cannot create a large infographic, consider making a listicle with short infographics, like you would see on Wimdu.

3. Make videos and post them raw or edited

Videos trend on social media, and you can take advantage of this by creating your own. The most engaging content in recent times are videos. Facebook is now sizing up with YouTube with over 1 billion views per day. It is not a surprise that video streaming apps are trending.

The standard used to be that blog videos had to be high quality, and produced from professional video recording equipment. Today, most videos are created with smartphones and the standard has been lowered. Some smartphones can record high-quality videos, and have the advantage of simple editing options to facilitate file upload.

Gossip gets a lot of attention these days. People are interested in looking into other people’s personal lives while keeping theirs hidden. If you should upload a really personal video (raw and unedited) using your office webcam or your smartphone, be assured you will get lots of buzzes.

4. Critically review a product

According to Zendesk survey, four in every five people will search for reviews on a product before making their purchase. Retail websites usually have a section reserved for customers to review the product they purchased, but shrewd customers want a place they can get objective and honest views.

Loyal readers who share your values and interests will always trust you, as a blogger, to provide them with informed and unbiased information. They will be eager to read your opinion on a new product that is related to your topic.

A typical review should begin by introducing the product, who it is suitable for and the purpose of the review. The subsequent paragraphs should contain the features, pros and cons, and a comparison with close alternatives. Your conclusion should sum up your opinion by either recommending the product or telling your readers not to buy, giving definitive reasons.

5. Insert a compilation of experts opinion on a topic

Look for experts in your field and interview them with regard to a particular topic. There are readers out there that don’t take advice to heart unless it is coming from an expert in the field. Experts have a way of simplifying ideas in a thought-provoking way you may not have thought about.

You can either go around interviewing experts with a good track record, or just search for them using any search engine. This type of article often reads like listicles. Gathering expert opinion about a particular topic adds credibility to the content contained in your blog. When you have a post that has readers debating its credibility, getting expert views is the best way to clear the dust. This is why it is important to pay close attention to the questions and comments of your readers.

6. Dissect a single topic in a way it has never been done before

Short posts may grab the attention of a few but research, including the one conducted by Search Engine Land post, has revealed that longer posts get better ranking on search engine results. A long post will give you the privilege of engaging your readers in a way that leaves a lasting impression.

Make long posts interesting by dividing them into short paragraphs, or sections with ample visual breaks. Begin the first paragraph with a teaser, then break the main article into mini points for easy digestion. The most important points should come at the end.

7. Write a tutorial on a related topic for your readers

In the past, you would need to find an expert when you wanted to learn anything. Now, you can learn to do almost anything by searching it up on a search engine. According to Google reports, Americans spend more than 100 million hours per year watching instructional videos on YouTube.

Avid readers are usually enthusiastic and would like to learn more and more. Sharing blog posts that teach “how-to” options gives your readers a step-by-step guide on achieving their goals. There is always something in your field that you know how to do which others are interested in learning. The steps should be numbered, and made as simple to implement as possible.

Varying your blog posts is necessary to avoid monotony. It also gives you avenues to reach a newer and extended audience day after day. An engaged audience should be your ultimate goal. Bear in mind that shifting structures with the intention of increasing your audience may backfire. The best way to sustain your relevance is to stick with providing high-quality content.

Having gone through the 7 different blog post ideas, which of them has spiked your interest the most? How many of the above ideas have you implemented in writing your blog post? Give us your insights and post your views in the comments section below, and invite your friends to do the same.